The 38th World Diamond Congress, the biennial meeting of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), began on Tuesday (October 23) in Mumbai.

Blancpain launches raft of new timepieces

Watch brand Blancpain has unveiled a raft of new models at this year’s BaselWorld, including several additions to its classic Villeret Collection.

For the first time in the Collection’s history Blancpain has added two timepieces featuring the day of the week and the date.

The first timepiece is housed in a stainless steel 40mm case with a matt-white dial and leaf-shaped cut out hands. The day-date appears at 3’o clock, while the seconds display at 6 o’clock.

The second watch features the day and date but also shows the week of the year. The weeks are numbered around the rim of the dial with a traditional blue serpentine hand to indicate its progress. Meanwhile, the day of the week appears in a sub-dial at 9 o’clock with the date shown at 6 o’clock.

The watch also features a red-gold 42mm case, which is equipped with Blancpain’s patented under-lug correctors. This allows the wearer to adjust the watch with a fingertip rather than a needing a stylus tool.

Blancpain has also added two new models to the women’s Villeret range. The Villeret Quantième à Phase de Lune timepiece is red-gold watch with an opaline dial, solid leaf-shaped hands, a point-type date display and a sapphire moon-phase indicator. The watch is 29.20mm in diameter and is topped by a bezel featuring 48 full-cut diamonds.

The moon-phase indicator is made of a wheel of 59 teeth, which is the equivalent of two complete 29.5-day lunar cycles. The moon, which has a feminine face complete with beauty spot, is drawn twice on the disk driven by the wheel.

A second Villeret Quantième à Phase de Lune model has also been created with five interchangeable straps in different colours and materials. There are three alligator leather straps in red, midnight blue and sky blue, a white strap in ostrich leather and one in black stain.

The timepiece shares moon-phase indicator and dimensions with the first watch but has a stainless steel case and a matt white dial. It too has a bezel with 48 full-cut diamonds.

Meawnhile, the watchmaker has also added two new models to its vintage-inspired Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe range.

The first addition to this range of diving watches is a 38mm timepiece in abyss blue to recall the depths of the ocean. The steel bezel features a blue ceramic inset and hour-markers in Liquidmetal, an alloy known for its deformation resistance and long-term stability.